FURIOUS Johnson Fold residents are threatening a Moss Bank Way sit-in after claiming they are being kept in the dark about road changes.

They have hit out over the lack of consultation over the council's proposed scheme to cut down trees and widen Moss Bank Way.

The issue came to a head at the weekend when nine trees outside old people's bungalows were chopped down in preparation for the work.

Angry members of Johnson Fold Residents Association wrote to local MPs, councillors and council officials demanding further work be halted until a public meeting has been held.

Helen Catterall, chairman of the association said: "I had elderly people ringing me up in tears at the weekend because they didn't want the trees to go.

"Trees are supposed to be being replanted in the grounds of Johnson Fold Primary School but I am a governor there and we have not been consulted either."

Mrs Catterall says the only way they have found out about the proposals for the road alterations have been articles in the press.

She said: "At no point in the planning process were any of the concerned parties consulted, despite the fact that several relevant issues have been raised by local residents over the last few years."

The association believes the plans to make the road wider will make it more dangerous, rather than safer as the council claims.

Instead, they want the speed limits reduced and the road made narrower.

This would restrict traffic to a single lane and improving parking facilities for local residents.

They feel the conversion of existing grass verges into cycle lanes will make it more difficult for visitors to park outside the bungalows.

Mrs Catterall said: "People are so furious about the lack of consultation that they are prepared to stage a sit in on Moss Bank Way if they are not listened to."

Dave Sutton, Bolton Council's head of highway planning and regulation, said that there are no plans to hold a public meeting and the scheme has had councillors' approval for some time.

He said: "It is a strategic issue which the committee has authorised.

"It isn't the kind of scheme that would have to go to local consultation.

"The old, worn-out road needs replacing and is being widened to allow future contra-flows to be introduced easily when repairs have to be carried out.

"Similar road improvements have already been made at Halliwell Road and pedestrians feel safer because the cycle lane acts as a buffer between them and the traffic.

"Parking outside the elderly people's bungalows will be maintained in this new scheme."

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